•
Rating:
Ok, I messed up. Cursed be the rush and the urge to hit keys before listening, but I have the chance to redeem myself with my personal "Trent Reznor trilogy" with this review of The Fragile, a double album by his Nine Inch Nails, monumental and an important milestone for all our lives. I had written that this record was too indebted to the atmospheres and arrangements of The Downward Spiral, so much so that I preferred Year Zero. I was wrong. YZ remains a splendid work, but it doesn't quite reach the heights of this wonderful cracked mirror, more of an emotional than a technical masterpiece, but with all its flaws, it can rightfully be defined as the highest peak reached by the artist, of course excluding Spiral, which remains sprawled out in its Olympus.
This was one of the aspects that initially diminished my assessment of this endless, complex double album, overflowing with anxieties and torments, which doesn't seem fully capable of handling its immense ambitions. 23 tracks is an exaggerated number, and maintaining qualitative consistency is practically impossible, or almost so; however, compared to TDW, I was annoyed from the start by the not very intentional dirtiness of the compositions, the strange mixing that doesn't always do justice to Reznor's voice. I have no idea if the intention was to propose a more visceral work compared to the surgical elaboration of the previous record, a strange middle ground between raw footage and sterile elaboration, between the organic nature of the guitars and the chill of electronics, but still the feeling seems to lean more toward approximation. The record came out after five years, so time was certainly not lacking for making useful refinements, perhaps it would have been better shorter but "polished." I'm obviously speaking of technical value and not artistic. The second problem is, as mentioned, the close kinship with the style of The Downward Spiral, of which the record at times seems an expanded sequel, fortunately, it only SEEMS. But it's not just a feeling. The obvious reference of Into the Void to Closer, from the bassline to the dance rhythm, perhaps more in the attempt to string together another successful single with that tone. But the track doesn't have an equally memorable refrain; in fact, let's say it doesn't have one at all. The only note of value is the conceptual echo of the melody, which will be repeated in other songs, such as La Mer (which it represents as a remix) and We're in this Together, perhaps the most beautiful piece on the album, with a powerful and desperate, angry, and compelling chorus. This is the aspect of The Fragile that emerges after repeated listening, defining its nature and thus representing the prerogative that belongs to great masterpieces; once those two initial flaws are put behind, its full, undeniable value can be appreciated.
The album also surprises with Reznor's absolute compositional skill, with a clear inclination toward engaging, almost cinematic sounds, and the absolute unpredictability of the solutions adopted. An example is The Day the World Went Away, it's impossible to understand where it wants to go after the epic guitar riff that defines its structure; for sure, I didn't expect the little chorus to sing at the beach, or Just Like You Imagined, an instrumental piece with atmospheres suspended between jazz, metal, and industrial. Other tracks show remarkable care in the refrains and bridges, like the engaging Please, or the menacing wall of metal guitars in The Wretched, while The Fragile follows more conventional rules, almost straddling pop and acoustic, with a perhaps somewhat predictable but practically impossible not to love chorus. Incredibly, in tracks like Even Deeper and I'm looking Forward to Joining You and Underneath it all, almost EDM-compatible paths are explored. Not everything flows as it should, it's practically an infinite album, some episodes turn out to be less necessary, but the overall vision, creativity, and message that reaches the listener are astonishing—messages that had a different significance at the time of release (end-of-millennium anxieties), but still appreciated today. It's a shame only for the technical flaws, but maybe it's my problem, and the balance of the universe is saved. A double album worthy of a place of honor alongside the great works of rock.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Somewhat Damaged (04:31)
So impressed with all you do
Tried so hard to be like you
Flew too high and burnt the wing
Lost my faith in everything
Lick around divine debris
Taste the wealth of hate in me
Shedding skin succumb defeat
This machine is obsolete
Made the choice to go away
Drink the fountain of decay
Tear a hole exquisite red
Fuck the rest and stab it dead
Broken bruised forgotten sore
Too fucked up to care any more
Poisoned to my rotten core
Too fucked up to care any more
Broken bruised forgotten sore
Too fucked up to care any more
Poisoned to my rotten core
Too fucked up to care any more
In the back, off the side, and far away
is a place, where i hide, where i stay
tried to say, tried to ask, i needed to
all alone, by myself, where were you?
how could i ever think it's funny how
everything that swore it wouldn't change is different now
just like you would always say we'd make it through
then my head fell apart and where were you?
how could i ever think it's funny how
everything you swore would never change is different now
like you said, you and me, make it through
didn't quite, fell apart, where the fuck were you?
02 The Day the World Went Away (04:33)
I'd listen to the words he'd say
But in his voice I heard decay
The plastic face forced to portray
All the insides left cold and gray
There is a place that still remains
It eats the fear it eats the pain
The sweetest price he'll have to pay
The day the whole world went away
Na na nah
Na na na, nah
Na na nah
Na na na , nah
04 The Wretched (05:25)
Just a reflection
Just a glimpse
Just a little reminder
Of all the what abouts
And all the might of beens
Could have beens
Another day
Some other way
But not another reason to continue
And now you're one of us
The wretched
The hopes and prays
The better days
The far aways
Forget it
It didn't turn out the way you wanted it to
It didn't turn out the way you wanted it did it?
It didn't turn out the way you wanted it to
It didn't turn out the way you wanted it did it?
Now you know
This is what it feels like
Now you know
This is what it feels like
The clouds will part and the sky cracks open
And God himself will reach his fucking arm
Through
Just to push you down
Just to hold you down
Stuck in this hole with the shit and the piss
And it's hard to believe it could come down to this
Back at the beginning
Sinking
Spinning
And in the end
We still pretend
The time we spend
Not knowing when
You're finally free
And you could be
But it didn't turn out the way you wanted it to
It didn't turn out quite the way that you wanted it
Now you know
This is what it feels like
Now you know
This is what it feels like
You can try to stop it but it keeps on coming
You can try to stop it but
05 We're in This Together (07:16)
I've become impossible
holding on to when
when everything seemed to matter more
the two of us
(all used) all used and beaten up
watching fate, as it flows
down the path, we have chose
you and me
we're in this together now
none of them can stop us now
we will make it through somehow
you and me
if the world should break in two
until the very end of me
until the very end of you
awake to the sound
as they peel apart the skin
they pick and they pull
trying to get their fingers in
well they've got to kill what we've found
well they've got to hate what they fear
well they've got to make it go away
well they've got to make it disappear
the farther i fall i'm beside you
as lost as i get i will find you
the deeper the wound i'm inside you
forever and ever i'm a part of
you and me
we're in this together now
none of them can stop us now
we will make it through somehow
you and me
if the world should break in two
until the very end of me
until the very end of you
the world is gone we have to hold on x3
the world is gone but we can hold on
you and me
we're in this together now
none of them can stop us now
we will make it through somehow
you and me
even after everything
you're the queen and i'm the king
nothing else means anything
06 The Fragile (04:35)
She shines
In a world full of ugliness
She matters
When everything is meaningless
Fragile
She doesn't see her beauty
She tries to get away
Sometimes
It's just that nothing seems worth saving
I can't watch her slip away
I won't let you fall apart (x4)
She reads the minds of all the people as they pass her by
Hoping someone can see
If I could fix myself i'd -
but it's too late for me
I won't let you fall apart (x4)
We'll find the perfect place to go where we can run and hide
I'll build a wall and we can keep them on the other side
...but they keep waiting
...and picking and picking and picking and picking...
It's something I have to do
I won't let you fall apart
I was there, too
I won't let you fall apart
Before everything else
I won't let you fall apart
I was like you
I won't let you fall apart
08 Even Deeper (05:47)
I woke up today
to find myself in the other place
with a trail of my footprints
from where I ran away
it seems everything I've heard
just might be true
and you know me
(well you think you do)
sometimes, I have everything-
yet I wish I felt something
do you know how far this has gone?
just how damaged have I become?
when i think I can overcome
it runs even deeper
and in a dream I'm a different me
with a perfect you
we fit perfectly
and for once in my life I feel complete-
and I still want to ruin it
afraid to look
as clear as day
this plan has long been underway
I hear them call
I cannot stay
the voice inviting me away
do you know how far this has gone?
just how damaged have I become?
when I think I can overcome
it runs even deeper
everything that matters is gone
all the hands of hope have withdrawn
could you try to help me hang on?
it runs...
I'm straight
I won't crack
on my way
and I can't turn back
I'm okay
I'm on track
on my way
and I can't turn back
I stayed
on this track
gone too far
and I can't come back
I stayed
on this track
lost my way
can't come back
11 La Mer (04:37)
Lyrics are french, which I've translated into english.
Et quand le jour arrive
Je deviendra le ciel
Et je deviendrai la mer
Et la mer viendra pour m'embrasser pour moi
Vais à la maison
Rien peut m'arrêter maintenant
-------------------------
And when the day arrives
I'll become the sky
And i'll become the sea
And the sea will come to kiss me
For i am going Home
Nothing can stop me now
12 The Great Below (05:17)
Staring at the sea
Will she come?
Is there hope for me
After all is said and done
Anything at any price
All of this for you
All the spoils of a wasted life
All of this for you
All the world has closed her eyes
Tired faith all worn and thin
For all we could have done
And all that could have been
Ocean pulls me close
And whispers in my ear
The destiny I've chose
All becoming clear
The currents have their say
The time is drawing near
Washes me away
Makes me disappear
And I descend from grace
In arms of undertow
I will take my place
In the great below
I can still feel you
Even so far away
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By Tzunami
Trent Reznor: a genius whose seeds will germinate now, tomorrow, and decades from now.
Words like blades in fragile flesh... a sensitive man is glimpsed, 'Fragile' indeed.
By Mike76
The epitome of their work was “The Fragile”, a work hard to beat in terms of pomp, excessive length, and dispersiveness.
Reznor's voice perpetually set on the "damned soul" model and very limited technically, so much so that it never manages to find a valid alternative to the usual desperate scream or the restless whisper.
By GustavoTanz
"This sonic experience is nothing other than a record made with the heart and arranged with the brain."
"We can try to rebuild everything that has been destroyed. Recreate order from chaos. Discover the mystery during a slow rise."
